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Journalism of Courage
As Carlos Alcaraz was pushed unexpectedly hard by Italian veteran Fabio Fognini in their Wimbledon opener on Monday, the drama escalated in the fifth set, as when Alcaraz was up a break, a pause in play was called after an audience member fell ill.
The Spaniard, chasing a third successive Wimbledon title and fresh from defending his Roland Garros trophy, had been courteous to the fan. Later, on X, the daughter of the fan wrote him a message of thanks, to which the 22-year-old tennis player graciously replied.
“Thank you @carlosalcaraz for the concern shown to my mum today who was taken ill during your tennis match at Centre Court @Wimbledon today,” Eluned Lewis wrote on X. “Unlikely you’ll see this message but I can try! Thank you.”
Alcaraz replied on the same platform saying: “You’re very welcome, it was nothing! I hope your mum is doing well. Send her a kiss from me and take good care of her!”
On Wednesday, the third day of play at Wimbledon, rain arrived early in the morning and delayed the matches throughout the outside courts. The result may cause havoc to the schedule. But it will come as a much-needed reprieve to players and fans alike, as temperatures have soared over the first two days.
BBC reported that Monday, the same day that the audience member fell ill during Alcaraz and Fognini’s opening round, was the hottest-ever opening day in the tournament’s history. The air temperatures were as high as 32.3°C at 4pm local time.
The heat has also been given as one of the reasons why so many top players have exited the tournament by the first round itself. Across both men’s and women’s draws, a total of eight top 10 seeds fell by the first hurdle itself. In both events, a total of 23 seeded players (32 are seeded in each draw) were out by the time play ended on Tuesday.
